Time for Investors to Raise Cash

While the market has not yet broken down, its mood swings are getting bigger as the government shutdown continues.

At the risk of enhancing my permabear image, the current tone of the stock market suggests that investors should reduce risk. With the battles in Washington dominating the news, lowering exposure to stocks, both long and short, is a good idea.

To be sure, the rising trend from November 2012 is still intact and there are no signals from classical technical analysis that scream "sell." It was only Tuesday when the Nasdaq and indexes representing medium-, small- and micro-capitalization stocks hit new highs. And...